Alive ? Zach Mitchell

II

"I was there when she hatched a year ago. I've been training with her every day since."

"That's actually impressive," Zach muttered. 

Adelaide felt her blood rush to her cheeks. "Thank you. It's not only my merit."

The next hours of the morning were spent in a closed section of the Aviary. Adelaide showed the stunned boys all the tricks she and Ro performed. All other plans seemed to be forgotten at that time, and Adelaide couldn't help but notice how well she and the brothers were getting along. Even she and quiet Zach.

* * *

After paying a short visit to Owen, who had been busy and had to leave soon after meeting the boys, and seeing the Pteranodons get fed, they were headed towards the baby dinosaurs' enclosure.

"Do you think I can ride the Triceratops?" Gray asked as they were walking (or better said, jogging) to their next destination. 

Claire had instructed Adelaide to make sure the boys had fun, so that was exactly what she was doing. And it worked---at least in Gray's case, who was hurrying through the crowd. Zach's eyes never left his phone and Adelaide wondered how he managed to walk and not trip while looking at it. She couldn't even dream of doing that.

"Come on!" Gray yelled, forcing them to pick up their pace.

"Is he always like this?" Adelaide giggled, turning her head towards Zach.

"Mostly, yeah. He's been waiting for this trip since his last birthday," Zach huffed.

Adelaide smiled and slid her hands in her pockets, trying not to lose the fast child from her sights.

"I'm glad Aunt Claire sent you to babysit us, or whatever," Zach blurted out. "You're more fun than Zara was."

The remark tugged at the corners of Adelaide's mouth. "Thanks, Zach. I'm trying my best. I . . . I'm not very good with people," she confessed.

Zach's eyebrows jolted upwards. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, all I do is keep up with Claire and write down notes, fetch her documents . . . I haven't really gotten the chance to socialise. You and Gray are my first guests here."

Zach paused, thinking her words over. "For what it's worth, I think you're great. I mean, we think you're great, Gray and I," he quickly rephrased.

After watching Gray ride the dinosaur babies that were strong enough to carry him, they decided to go to the ice cream parlour for a cold snack, perfect for the heat of Jurassic World. Zach and Adelaide stood in line and chatted a bit longer as Gray looked around for a table. Eventually, they sat down, cups of the delicious treat clutched in their warm hands. Adelaide and Gray debated on the subject of fossils and Zach was quietly eating his dessert, staring at a group of girls who began giggling as soon as they noticed his gaze.

"Do you think staring at them will help?" Gray asked, loud enough to be heard by the pack of girls as well---this got them to move on, laughing behind their hands. 

"Thanks a lot, dude." Zach scoffed, pulling out his phone.

"You have a girlfriend, remember?" Gray retorted.

Zach's head shot up, his jaw clenched. "Stay out of this, alright? It's not any of your damn business," he snarled. 

Adelaide frowned at the sudden outburst. "You shouldn't talk to him like that," she intervened, setting down her cup of caramel ice cream. 

"It's not your business either." Zach shot her a glare, then stood up and stormed off without any further ado.

Silence ensured, and Gray finished his treat while looking glum. "I really don't get it. I saw him kiss Kylie before we left, and our parents are getting a divorce and I don't want him to be mad at me," Gray said in one breath. 

Adelaide wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "He's older, so he probably has some issues you can't understand yet, so pay him no mind. He loves you, even if he doesn't really show it sometimes." 

"Thanks, Adelaide." Gray offered her a small smile. "Do you want to go ride the Gyrospheres?" he proposed as they stood.

The two were headed towards the first attraction of the afternoon when Zach appeared again, seemingly out of nowhere. Since Gray hadn't spotted him, Adelaide sent him ahead with the VIP passes, making up a lie about how she had to use the restroom. Zach drew closer once Gray was out of earshot. Adelaide crossed her arms at her chest, her mien expressionless.

Zach rubbed the back of his neck, looking embarrassed. "Look, Adelaide, I'm sorry for snapping before. My girlfriend and I . . . we've been having some issues lately."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," Adelaide replied. "Your brother needs you to be there for him." 

As they made their way to the Gyrospheres, Adelaide felt like she had to do something to relieve the tension between them. "Listen, I'm sorry for your break up."

"How did you know we broke up?" Zach asked.

 Adelaide shrugged. "Because I went through one too and all I wanted to do was plop on the couch and eat cookies and chocolate all day while watching sappy romance movies and bawling my eyeballs out. But you also need to keep it in, or at least don't take it out on Gray."

"Who'd break up with you?" Zach whispered underneath his breath, the words failing to reach Adelaide. Louder now, he said, "Alright, I was kind of an asshole. I'll apologise." With a grin, he added, "In regards to the chocolate and sappy movies . . ." 

Adelaide laughed and softly punched his shoulder. "Hey, don't mock me."

". . . things really had to end between Kylie and I. We couldn't really stand each other anymore."

Before Adelaide could reply, they were met by Gray, who was barely containing his excitement. Luckily, the queue hadn't been long, and the new Gyrospheres with three seats had been recently made available to the public. Thus, Gray, Zach and Adelaide hopped into one. Gray claimed the back seat as his before anybody could protest, which left Zach and Adelaide stuck next to one another in the front seats, the joystick between them. As they set out, searching for dinosaurs they could navigate next to, none of them had a clue that their day was about to become more interesting---and terrifying, at that.